* Describe your first student teaching context (school setting). What school are you at, what are some of its characteristics, and what classes are you teaching, and how are classes scheduled at your school?
I am student teaching at Exeter West Greenwich Junior High School with Mrs. Brocato. The Black Knight team is made up of four heterogeneously grouped core classes. Core classes meet from 7:16-9:00AM (first period) and 12:00-1:37PM (last period). In between the two main core blocks is when the students go to their band/ chorus, foreign language, etc. and we have advisory, drop everything and read, and enrichment in the classroom. I started planning and teaching the two core block classes on Monday and I have a successful start to my genetics unit. I have been through three lessons (because I see the students every other day) and I feel that I am in the routine of the school day after my first full week. All of the classes on the team are considered Life Science classes and are the same prep. Because of the heterogeneous grouping, I have certain students in each class who have IEPs and 504 plans that require some specific adaptations and attention. So far, the students have not given me any behavior issues and I am looking forward to doing some fun hands on genetics inquiries next week!
* Explain one of your "stealth" objectives that you want to accomplish with your students and why.
One stealth objective that I hope to accomplish with my students is teaching them to take notes for themselves. Through observations and the first couple of days of me teaching, I noticed that the students will copy the definitions or notes word for word from either the book or my presentation and they might not be able to answer a general question about what they just learned because they did not process the information. Most of my students know the importance of taking notes and there is a set requirement in our class to have a neat, organized notebook that is routinely checked and graded. My hope is that I can get my students to successfully take their notes for their own benefit and not just for their notebook grade. In my lesson yesterday, I did not give them definitions for words such as Genotype, Phenotype, etc. I explained what each word meant and I had them come up with a definition that made sense to them to write in their notes for their own study purposes. I stressed the fact that if they don't understand what they are writing down, it is useless for them to study. I had a few students raise their hands and give me an explanation in their own words and I think this might have helped some of the other students.
* Describe your first student teaching context (school setting). What school are you at, what are some of its characteristics, and what classes are you teaching, and how are classes scheduled at your school?
I am student teaching at Exeter West Greenwich Junior High School with Mrs. Brocato. The Black Knight team is made up of four heterogeneously grouped core classes. Core classes meet from 7:16-9:00AM (first period) and 12:00-1:37PM (last period). In between the two main core blocks is when the students go to their band/ chorus, foreign language, etc. and we have advisory, drop everything and read, and enrichment in the classroom. I started planning and teaching the two core block classes on Monday and I have a successful start to my genetics unit. I have been through three lessons (because I see the students every other day) and I feel that I am in the routine of the school day after my first full week. All of the classes on the team are considered Life Science classes and are the same prep. Because of the heterogeneous grouping, I have certain students in each class who have IEPs and 504 plans that require some specific adaptations and attention. So far, the students have not given me any behavior issues and I am looking forward to doing some fun hands on genetics inquiries next week!
* Explain one of your "stealth" objectives that you want to accomplish with your students and why.
One stealth objective that I hope to accomplish with my students is teaching them to take notes for themselves. Through observations and the first couple of days of me teaching, I noticed that the students will copy the definitions or notes word for word from either the book or my presentation and they might not be able to answer a general question about what they just learned because they did not process the information. Most of my students know the importance of taking notes and there is a set requirement in our class to have a neat, organized notebook that is routinely checked and graded. My hope is that I can get my students to successfully take their notes for their own benefit and not just for their notebook grade. In my lesson yesterday, I did not give them definitions for words such as Genotype, Phenotype, etc. I explained what each word meant and I had them come up with a definition that made sense to them to write in their notes for their own study purposes. I stressed the fact that if they don't understand what they are writing down, it is useless for them to study. I had a few students raise their hands and give me an explanation in their own words and I think this might have helped some of the other students.